Many experts turned up their noses at Stefanos Tsitsipas’s relationship with Paula Badosa, citing concerns that it would have damaged the young tennis players’ commitment to their careers. Instead, Tsitsipas denied these accusations against his girlfriend and talked about how tough it was for him to be near her after Paula’s catastrophic injury in February.
After over a year of dealing with a crippling back condition, Badosa was forced to withdraw from her match against Aryna Sabalenka in Stuttgart due to a leg injury.
Tstisipas talked about it and said: “Paula had a serious back injury. People don’t understand the difficult times she went through. She’s much better now. I have always been there for her, watching her progress and improvements. She had a much more serious injury than me. And going through these hardships and seeing her suffer so much hurt me, finding myself in a similar situation months later.”
He added: “Now I feel that her fitness is back. I feel like she’s upping her game again. I have no reason to believe that she will not only be at the same level as before, but even better. The hunger is there. She hasn’t played much and I’ve never seen Paula more hungry and more determined to get on the court and do great things.”
"To see Paula Badosa suffer made me suffer even more" – Stefanos Tsitsipas divulges girlfriend's "hunger" amid similar injury struggles https://t.co/AIcYXRz7dZ
— Sport Tweets (@TweetsOfSportUK) April 16, 2024
Tsitsipas in Barcelona, ranking, and results in 2024
Now ranked no.7, Stefanos has achieved a compiled 19-6 record in 2024. The Greek is playing at the moment in Barcelona where he defeated the world no.43 Sebastian Ofner 6-4 7-5 and the world no.72 Roberto Carballes Baena 7-5 6-3.
Stefanos Tsitsipas will face the world no.53 Facundo Diaz Acosta in the quarter on Friday at 4:00 pm on PISTA RAFA NADAL. They have never played each other so far in top competitions.
Stefanos clinched 1 title in 2024 in Monte-Carlo.
Tsitsipas won 12 titles in his career: 1 on hard courts, 5 on clay courts, 5 on indoor courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Paula Badosa in 2024
Now the world no.93, Paula played her last match on the 17th of April when she had to retire when playing against world no.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the 2nd round and the scoreline was 7-6(4) 4-6 3-3 .
During this season the Spaniard owns an overall 6-8 record.
Badosa will compete next in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open). She will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 22nd of April.
